Marysville Woman Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Gun Trafficking

A Snohomish County woman who led a ring of gun and drug traffickers was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to nine years in prison and four years of supervised release for conspiracy to illegally deal in firearms, being a felon in possession of a firearm and distribution of methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. HEATHER CHANCEY, a/k/a HEATHER LEE SLATER, 34, of Marysville, Washington was indicted in July 2013 along with three other members of a firearms trafficking ring. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said that “the delivery of 49 firearms is an extraordinarily serious offense.”

“This defendant sold dozens of high powered firearms with no sales record and no concern about where these guns would end up,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “The sales were made in crowded parking lots and other locations with no security, no background checks and no protection for the public. One of our top priorities is to stop the illegal flow of guns into our communities.”

According to records in the case, on multiple occasions between October 2012 and January 2013, HEATHER CHANCEY and her coconspirators sold guns to an undercover law enforcement agent. Most of the sales occurred in the parking lot of the Tulalip Resort Casino in Marysville, Washington. Some of the sales occurred in other parking lots of businesses in Marysville or Arlington, Washington or at a Marysville residence. CHANCEY was prohibited from possessing firearms because of a 2001 conviction for methamphetamine possession. Some of the guns she possessed and sold in this case include: two sawed off shotguns and 13 regular shotguns – some with no visible serial numbers; 21 rifles – some with obliterated serial numbers; and four handguns. CHANCEY also sold methamphetamine to the undercover officer.

Two other defendants have already pleaded guilty: James Michaels was sentenced to 10 months in prison for conspiracy to unlawfully sell firearms. Mark Jenkins is scheduled to be sentenced for conspiracy to unlawfully sell firearms on February 24, 2014 and Curtis Van Putten is scheduled for trial next week for conspiracy to sell firearms and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

This investigation was conducted by the Snohomish Regional Gang and Drug Task Force, the Seattle Police Department, and the FBI. During the investigation, those agencies were assisted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Snohomish County Violent Offender Task Force and the United States Marshal’s Violent Offender Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kate Crisham.